Our New Best Pal: The Smoker

Our special little buddy

Who knew that another appliance would add so much variety into our life? Just two short weeks ago, this little guy came into our life. We've used it twice since, with amazing results. We smoked ribs on the 4th of July, and then a pork shoulder yesterday. 


It has two grates, so you can cook more than one thing at once. Paul was able to smoke the 7 lb. pork shoulder yesterday, as well as a 4 lb. chicken. I was impressed. I think Paul is getting a kick out of trying new recipes for rubs and sauces to accompany the meat. Our neighbors don't seem to mind the smoke or smells, and we have lots of leftovers for the week. 

Paul also doesn't seem too upset at having to sit outside with a cold beer on a hot day, manning the grill.

June 21: Steelhead Trout with Fennel and Celery Salad

After getting fennel in our produce basket, I was on the hunt for some halibut to go with it. No dice at Dominick's. Instead, we picked up some delicious looking trout. I wasn't sure how we could prepare it, but found this recipe online, which looked pretty simple.

Here, fishy fishy fishy!

The mixture that goes on the trout is made up of butter, paprika, lemon, barbecue sauce and cayenne pepper. What the what?!? That sounds really weird. We had some Sweet Baby Ray's in house, so I figured whatever happened -- it would probably still be pretty good. Or you dump more barbecue sauce on it and it's fine.

After mixing all of the components together, brush this on the trout ahead of time (you add more while cooking as well).

The sauce IS boss, so it can't go too wrong, right?

Alongside the fish, I found a recipe/article by my hero Mark Bittman that would take care of both the fennel and the celery that we had received in the produce basket. Even without the halibut. 

BOOM. Salad.

Bravely figuring out the fennel.

Bittman's recipe doesn't really give you quantities, so I eyeballed it. After following his directions to quarter the fennel and take off the hard outer leaves, I sliced it thin on the mandolin, and did the same with the celery. Add a TON of lemon juice, a little bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and some shaved Parmesan, and this guy is good to go.

All combined with some mood lighting.

Paul got to work on the grill. He put the fish on and cooked them for 10 minutes on a medium heat.

I wonder what our neighbors think, while we're taking 900 pictures of the grill.

He then brushed them with some of the remaining sauce, and cooked them for an additional 2 minutes on the grill. 

I know this picture looks similar to the first one, but it's cooked under there. Promise.

We cut the fish into normal sized portions, and ate it alongside the fennel and celery salad. 

Ooh, pretty.

The note alongside the recipe is totally true -- you wouldn't think this is good, but it really is! The fish was really good! The barbecue sauce is not overpowering -- the combination of ingredients has a nice flavor. 

The salad is quite refreshing -- the fennel has a licorice-like flavor (but not gross, I promise). Adding a lot of lemon juice and pepper really tones it down and blends well. The celery and fennel are similar in consistency, so they make for a nice crunchy bite. Plus, throw some Parm on it, and I'll probably like it anyways.

Update: we've gotten fennel again in our produce basket, and I made the same salad. Second round was just as good as the first!

June 9: Grilled Shrimp with Kale Leaves with Quinoa and Feta

Note: We added shrimp to the week's menu after realizing we had some picked up some from the grocery store the weekend before.

The shrimp we made here was based on the shrimp tikkas recipe we had learned at Naveen's cuisine.  We had about 1/2 pound of shrimp, so we cut down the spice amounts. We made a marinade of 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic, 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1/4 teaspoon garam masala. We didn't have garlic paste or ginger paste, so used minced versions -- and then put in less cayenne pepper than the recipe had originally suggested (1/2 teaspoon for 1 pound of shrimp) as well.

We used some fresh shrimp we had gotten at the meat/seafood counter. Naveen had suggested using uncooked shrimp, but felt that fresh or frozen would work. He had also recommended butterflying the shrimp before marinating it, which essentially consists of running your knife down the back of the shrimp, as you can see from the photo below.

Mad skillz.

The shrimp went into the marinade for about 30 minutes (they can sit up to 2 hours). 

Raw shrimp. Not so pretty here.

In the meantime, I washed and cut the stems from the kale leaves. I prefer just to eat the leaves -- the stems can be kind of tough for me. Kale is like spinach in the sense that it reduces down big time once you cook it. I know this looks like a ton of kale, but it really shrinks down.

The kale was cooked on the stove with a little olive oil. You'll see in the last picture how much it reduces down. 

Paul, the grill master, cooked the shrimp on the grill for about 5 - 7 minutes -- until they are no longer opaque. Here they are when first tossed on the grill...
 

Thank you, grill light! You are you handy when we make dinner at 9 p.m.

...and about 5 minutes later. The butterflying makes them curl up like that and look pretty. 
 

Um, there a few less shrimp in this photo. I think someone had a snack before dinner.

Alongside the kale and shrimp, I cooked up a quick cup of quinoa. We added some feta cheese crumbles to the kale, and topped the shrimp with some cilantro.

It turned out pretty good! I was impressed, even with messing with the spice ratios. I like keeping frozen shrimp in our freezer for a quick meal, and this would make great use of them as well (see below). Paul suggested that next time, we plate the kale on top of the quinoa. I ended up mixing everything together as I ate anyways. 


Update: We made the shrimp recipe again recently for a larger group, and this time used the recipe amounts (1 pound of frozen uncooked shrimp) and the correct ingredient ratios: 1 tablespoon minced garlic, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (I still kept this a little lower than suggested because I didn't want people to think it was too spicy). We marinated them for about 2 hours and then cooked them up on the grill for about 7 minutes. They went FAST. Our guests really enjoyed them. I love having a quick backup recipe like this that I can make with the ingredients I have in the house or that I am comfortable bringing with us to another party.

June 6: Grilled Lobster Tail with Mediterranean-style Bok Choy

One of the great things that has come from us doing this blog (and by default, talking about it) is that we get great new ideas and cooking advice from our friends and people we meet. Paul had picked up two lobster tails at the grocery store, switching things up a little bit from our regular once a week salmon habit. We just happened to meet up with some friends at Maifest who had experience grilling lobster tails and were able to give us some helpful instructions for preparing and cooking them.

I'm glad Paul was paying attention during that conversation. I was focused on my German beer.

Paul cut open the shells, and pulled them back to reveal the lobster meat inside. Inside one of the lobster tails, there was this weird green stuff. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out if I was going to die. In the meantime, Paul was busy washing it off. I think it was the tomalley (the liver). Whatever it was -- I clearly made it to blog another day.

After Paul split open the shell, he basted the meat with melted butter and minced garlic. While Paul cooked the lobster tails on the grill, I started on the side of bok choy, Mediterranean style.

I separated the stems from the leaves, and chopped them both. The stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves, so I put them on a couple minutes ahead.

Bok Choy sauted with a little olive oil.

At the very end of the recipe, you add capers, chopped black olives, and minced garlic and cook for just a few seconds.

We had only half a head of bok choy, so we cut the other ingredients in half as well.

After you turn the heat off the bok choy, you top it with either balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. I went with balsamic vinegar.

Paul cooked the lobster tails on a medium hot grill for 4 - 5 minutes on each side.

Hello, buttery, garlicky goodness.

And shown paired with the Mediterranean bok choy side.

We were going for speed, not cleanliness here. Sorry, folks.

Overall, I was pleased with our first foray into lobster tail cooking. The lobster tasted deliciously buttery and was the perfect amount of meat (for me). We had been told (repeatedly) that undercooked lobster was better than overcooked lobster, so we erred on the side of caution in terms of length of cooking. I thought the bok choy was a little salty -- between the capers and the olives, and then topping it with the balsamic vinegar, I guess that wasn't too surprising.

But I have a sad confession to make. I'm not sure I like lobster. (Eek. I know.) I love me some buttery and garlicky stuff (bread, shrimp, pasta), so I figured I'd be all over this. I have some issues with texture, especially with seafood and meat, so I'm thinking that may have been my problem. While it tasted really good, I struggled with the consistency a little. At first, I asked about cooking it more -- but Paul thought it would become rubbery, which I imagine would make it pretty much inedible.

I'm not ready to give up. Now I'm thinking -- lobster bisque? Lobster paella? Some sort of seafood bake? Gonna get back on the (sea) horse.

June 5: Grilled Beer-Butt Chicken with Baked Potatoes and Chioggia Beet Salad

Beer Butt Chicken. Such a lovely concept. We have heard that it is some of the most flavorful and most chicken there is. Since the weather was so great last Sunday, we decided to make a 2 lbs. bird. We followed this recipe that we found online.

We heated up the grill, and made the spice mixture -- both to baste the chicken with and to put inside the can of beer. Half the mixture went inside the can of beer, and the other half was left for us to baste the chicken periodically.


Melted butter, paprika, garlic salt, salt and pepper mix for basting.



"Discard half the beer." What are they, bananas? We're talking BANQUET BEER here. Paul took care of the "discarding."

We had some issues getting the chicken to fit standing up inside our grill. Not to get too graphic, but essentially the entire beer can had to be crammed inside the chicken in order for it to fit upright in the grill. Sorry, chicken. I didn't want it to be this way either.

Photo documentation:

He looks kind of sad. We put the baked potatoes in front of him in case he tipped over.

Alongside the chicken, we decided to make baked potatoes (cooked on the grill in front of the chicken), and a raw beet salad. We had received these cool looking Chioggia beets in our produce basket the week before.

WHOA.

We sliced the beets thinly using the mandolin.

A very careful action shot. The mandolin has wronged me before.

To the dressing, we added basil, rosemary, and some Italian parsley. We substituted low-sugar maple syrup in place of the agave nectar. 

Clipped fresh from the front porch plants!

Back to the Beer Butt. We cooked the chicken on the grill for about 1 1/2 hours. We basted it with the remaining sauce at about 45 minutes in. Here's how it came out.

Paul, master butcher.

The seasoning on the chicken was really good. It's a nice blend of spices without being overpowering. I'm usually not a chicken-skin eater, but I indulged this time because it was quite tasty.

We thought the chicken came out a little overcooked -- based on the recipe, we were thinking it would be 3 hours to cook through, but it was actually a lot less. I thought the grill had to be at 180 degrees -- not that 180 should be the chicken's internal temperature. A problem that pretty much could have been solved had I read the recipe again. Oops. Regardless, we thought the recipe called for cooking the chicken a lot longer than it needed. We probably could have gotten away with pulling it off at 1 hour 15 minutes or so (assuming the temperature was right -- it was definitely over 180 when we pulled it off at 1 hour 30 minutes).

(Quickly) Finishing up the salad, we plated the beets underneath, and then added a small handful of greens, some chopped walnuts and the dressing on top.

So colorful!

The salad was very earthy and crunchy. It was definitely unlike anything I had eaten before. Were we to make something like this again, I think I would slice the beets more thinly. I would also probably add more orange juice and a little less walnut oil. Paul did not mind the walnut oil, but agreed with adding more citrus. We also went a little overboard with the fresh herbs -- I would not use as many, and I would eliminate the rosemary. I felt like it dominated the dressing a little.

Grilled chicken and a baked potato. I am a happy camper.

Can we discuss how amazingly good baked potatoes are? Add some shredded cheddar, sour cream and chives, and I could eat one every day. Paul was not so pleased with the outside of the potato -- he thought the texture was a little weird.

The meal was relatively simple to make, especially after a Sunday morning/afternoon spent busy with work. You do need to keep an eye on the chicken, but it's not a time-consuming meal to prepare. We will definitely be making this again.

May 10: Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri, Bean and Corn Casserole

Paul and I were really excited about making a chimichurri sauce, using the parsley from our herb garden (read: three pots of dying plants on our front balcony). We decided to make a grilled flank steak as our protein, and use the sauce as a marinade. I found a recipe in my fave book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, for an easy chimichurri sauce.

To accompany the steak, we went back to the book for an Enchilada Style Baked Black Beans and Corn. (Note: the base recipe is listed at the top of the page, but we made the modifications for the version listed at the bottom of the left column for the enchilada style recipe.)

As per usual, I forgot to take photos until everything was assembled. We used a jarred salsa instead of a homemade version. We layered the salsa, the drained black beans (2 cans), the cubed Monterey Jack cheese, and topped it with the crushed tortilla chips and queso fresco crumbles. This went into a 400 degree oven.

Tortilla chips, beans and two types of cheese? Yes, please.

Paul got to work on the chimichurri sauce. He added 2 cups parsley, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 cloves of garlic (we used jarred minced garlic) and 1/2 cup olive oil. 
 

We spread the sauce on the steak (we had bought a 2 lb. flank steak), and let it rest for about 30 minutes, turning it periodically to coat in the marinade. 
 

I whipped up a quick avocado and mango salsa to go with the steak. The avocados were a little overripe, but they still tasted good. 
 

Ignore the brown spots. When it comes to avocados, I will eat these regardless of how brown they are.

Chopped up the mango we had...
 

I mixed everything up with a little diced red onion. 
 

Paul cooked the steak on the grill for about 6 minutes on each side. We covered it with aluminum foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.


Extreme close-up, a la Wayne's World. Whooooooooooaaaa!

The bean and corn dish cooked in the over for about 30 minutes. We topped it with some chopped cilantro. 
 

Obligatory melty-cheese close-up...

Paul put his excellent plating skills to good use...

We really liked how this turned out. The steak was cooked to the right temperature for me, and wasn't chewy (my main gripe with rare or medium rare meats). I think were we to make it again, I would marinate the meat longer so that it soaked up more of the chimichurri sauce. 

The bean dish, albeit a little unhealthy, was pretty good. We ate leftovers with chips as a dip later in the week, and as a filling for tacos. Paul sliced up the remaining steak, coupled with the bean mix made for a tasty lunch.

May 11: Grilled Salmon Steaks with Sauted Leeks and Quinoa

I have been dying to make quinoa for a while now, but haven't been able to find any at our local grocery store. Last week, I saw it and snatched it up. I decided to use the recipe for Quinoa with Caramelized Onions to go alongside some fresh salmon we picked up as well. In How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, they suggest replacing the 4 medium onions with 1 1/2 pounds of leeks, which is what I opted for. It's not a super quick cooking recipe, but it's pretty simple to cook. You follow the exact same recipe, just replacing the vegetable.

P.S. Leeks are not fun to clean. My new preferred method is (assuming you are using chopped leeks) to trim them down until just a little green remains, chop the white parts, and submerge them in a bowl of water. Lots of dirt gets stuck in the layers, and it is hard to get out unless the layers are separated.

Cook the leeks for about 20 minutes. Add the olive oil and brown sugar and cook, stirring occasionally for another 10 to 15 minutes. You toast the quinoa for a few minutes, and then add in the vegetable stock. Bring everything to a boil.

Here's what it looked like:

I remember thinking, "Those quinoa are small. Will they puff up? Is Paul going to be starving in like 10 minutes?" Nope and nope.

After it is boiling, add a couple sprigs of thyme, and reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, for about 15 minutes. 

Paul added salt and pepper to the salmon steaks and cooked them on the grill, heated to about 350 degrees.  It was a while back, but Paul thinks he cooked them for 6 to 7 minutes per side.

I had to ask Paul what to call these. "You know those salmon you cooked that have like the feet?" Paul: "You mean the steaks?" This is why we are married.

We added the salmon to a bed of the quinoa.


Oops. We forgot to eat a vegetable side with this dinner.

We really liked how this tuned out. The quinoa was nutty and caramelized from the brown sugar. I'm looking forward to trying this with onions to see how it turns out differently. Leeks are kind of creamy, so I wonder if it will be sweeter using onions.

Paul liked cooking these salmon steaks better than regular filets as well. You do have to avoid the bones a little, but it cooks up really nicely. I think with it being a thicker cut, you don't run the risk of overcooking it as much. 

May 1: Grilled Chicken with Pesto-Yogurt Potato Salad and Beet Green Salad

We had our friends Kyla, Alex and Roxy over for dinner, and decided to make some grilled chicken, with a beet green salad and pesto-yogurt potato salad as our sides. I wanted to highlight this potato salad because 1) it tastes good 2) it's easy to make and 3) it has no mayonnaise, so it's a good recipe to bring to an outdoor barbeque.

You begin by quartering red potatoes. I cut up a 3 pound bag of potatoes to make this batch, which was more than enough for dinner for four (and a half), as well as two nights of leftovers for us two.

Lots of mysterious shadows in this photo.

Boil the potatoes until they are fork-tender. Strain them out of the boiling water, and then put them into a large bowl.

While the potatoes were cooking, I made the pesto. You can certainly use the jarred/pre-made stuff if that is easier. I made our pesto from what we had in the house -- leaves and stems from our basil plant, some pine nuts, minced garlic, olive oil and Parmesan cheese.

Once your pesto is ready, combine it with the warm red potatoes and 1 1/2 cups of Greek yogurt.

Here is the final product...

You can serve this room-temperature, cold or hot. It's good regardless.

Here is the salad alongside the beet green salad and the grilled chicken.

And here it is the next evening alongside grilled salmon and zucchini halves. 

This time around, I think we could have added more pesto, but to be honest -- I am not sure if we added as much as the 1/2 cup as suggested by the recipe. The Greek yogurt is nice and tart and really adds a different dimension to the potato salad. Depending on the Greek yogurt you buy (or it could be all Greek yogurt -- I am not completely sure), this is a gluten-free recipe as well for all our friends with celiac.